Craniopagus twins

Craniopagus twins are conjoined twins who are conjoined at the cranium. This condition occurs in conjoined twin in about 1 in every 2,500,000 births. They account for only 2% of conjoined twins, and most die at birth or are stillborn.

Cases

Although it is the rarest kind of conjoined twin, many cases of them have been recorded including:

• Lotti and Rosemarie Knaack, who were born in Germany in the 1950s. They were separated at age 6, with Lotti dying in surgery.
• Lori and George Schappell, currently believed to be the longest-surviving craniopagus twins still living.
• Laleh and Ladan Bijani, who were separated at age 29, only to die 90 minutes apart after surgery.
• Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim who were born in Egypt. They were successfully separated at age 2 years, 4 months in October 2001 in Dallas, Texas.^[1]
• Anastasia and Tatiana Dogaru, who were born with the crown of Tatiana's head joined to the back of Anastasia's. Doctors determined in 2007 that they could not be separated.^[2]
• Krista and Tatiana Hogan, born on October 25, 2006. After a series of tests doctors also determined these twins could also not be separated.
• Joseph and Luka Banda from Zambia were separated successfully in South Africa by a team of surgeons led by Ben Carson
• Johann and Stefan Rausch from Ulm, Germany were separated successfully at Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital Center by a team of surgeons led by Ben Carson
• Stefan and Tyler Delp, both connected at the crown. At age 3, doctors determined that it was too risky for them to be separated.^[3]
• Ganga and Jamuna Shreshta, born in Kathmandu, Nepal, successfully separated by Dr. Chumpon Chan and his team from the Singapore General Hospital

Parasitic twins

There is another type of Craniopagus conjoined twins, craniopagus parasiticus. This means a parasitic twin attached at the head. Only eight documented cases have been recorded, and only 3 have survived birth.

References

1. ^ "Egyptian Twins". http://www.egyptiantwins.com. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
2. ^ Cleveland.com: Two Lives, Entwined
3. ^ Conjoined twin brothers, 19, tell their incredible story in first-ever interview

See also

• Conjoined twins
• Parasitic twin